Dear New and Returning ASD High School Parents,

Welcome to a new school year! After a summer of uncertainty and challenges, we are so happy to be writing to you with the knowledge that the start of our new year is just around the corner. To our new families, we welcome you to the ASD High School, where we are certain your children will flourish and thrive as learners.

We are proud to report that we have record high enrollment at the High School this year and we look forward to welcoming all our students back to school following the A/B hybrid model. As such, we will open the year following our established hybrid schedule. This schedule proved to be successful given the safety parameters used by our host country. Please know that we are utterly committed to ensuring that learning in the High School sustains its quality within a safe and secure environment. The A/B allocation has been shared out to students and parents today.

It is pleasing to report to you that our AP and IBDP scores this year continued our sustained academic excellence. In our AP program, 89% of students received a 3 or above and there were 20 AP Capstone Diplomas awarded. In our IB Diploma cohort the students achieved an average score of 37.4 with a 100% pass rate. These are record high scores in both programs and a real testament to both our students; and faculty’s commitment to excellence - and to your ongoing support of our school. The Class of 2021 also achieved outstanding acceptances from a range of universities and colleges around the world. The Class of 2021 accumulated a total of 564 acceptances, a further increase from last year’s record high. We congratulate them all for such an inspiring performance in challenging circumstances.

To complement IB Diploma Coordinator Ms. Katrina Charles, we welcome Mr. Joshua Giddens to the High School administration team as our new AP and Curriculum Coordinator. Josh brings with him considerable experience, and we look forward to introducing him to you during our first meeting of the year.

We know that many of you are eager to access PowerSchool; please note that PowerSchool will open to students and parents on Sunday, August 22 at 3:00pm. You will be able to view your child’s schedule at that time. Students are asked to access this information before they come to school on Monday. If you are unable to access the system, please contact our IT department.

New Families

We invite you to join a Zoom meeting from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm on Thursday, August 19. In this meeting, we will orient you to our division, introduce you to some key people and provide you with the opportunity to talk to some of our returning students about life in our High School. You will find the Zoom link here and in Sahifa.

New and Returning Families

We invite all our families to a Zoom meeting from 8:15 am - 8:45 am on Sunday, August 22. In this meeting we will provide you with a few updates on the beginning of the year and offer a Question and Answer session to ensure you have as much information as possible to begin the year in support of your children.

Here are some upcoming dates for your diary:

• September 15: High School Back to School Night

• September 22: High School Curriculum Night

• October 7: Our first Parent Advisory Forum (PAF) meeting

We look forward to seeing you all, soon.

Sincerely,

Michael Roberts

Jan Farmer

Paul Kasky